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A review by lisawreading
Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar
4.0
Wow, what a crazy read! I can't say I've ever come across Israeli science fiction before, and I enjoyed the heck out of this one.
The initial premise is intriguing -- and based on true events. Back in 1904, the Zionist Congress, led by Theodore Herzl, sent an expedition to Uganda to explore land that had been proposed as a site of a future Jewish state. In our (real) world, that didn't work out particularly well, and the idea was shelved in favor of pursuing a homeland in the "holy land", resulting in modern-day Israel. In the world in which we begin Unholy Land, the Africa expedition was a success, resulting in the birth of Palestina, a Jewish homeland located between Uganda and Kenya. Certain of our realities exist in this world as well -- native populations displaced by the creation of the state, resulting in ongoing border crises and refugee camps, a border wall, debate over the Right of Return, and never-ending peace negotiations.
But wait! There's more. Certain people are able to travel between alternate realities, including one like our own, one in which the entire Middle East is at peace and unified after the horror of a limited nuclear event which destroyed Jerusalem, and other, more exotic and frightening worlds. There are Kabbalistic elements involved which mingle with discussion of quantum physics, and it's all packaged up inside a very noir-feeling detective/spy plot.
I was fascinated by the descriptions of life in Palestina -- the language, the culture, the food, the geography. The author does an incredibly inventive and persuasive job of making it seem like a real and viable country, while also demonstrating that in this world or any other, certain problems and challenges and misfortunes seep through no matter what.
The entire plot is somewhat mind-boggling, and I think I'll need to let this one percolate for a bit and then return and read it all over again. It's a quick read, but with plenty to think about. Highly recommended.
The initial premise is intriguing -- and based on true events. Back in 1904, the Zionist Congress, led by Theodore Herzl, sent an expedition to Uganda to explore land that had been proposed as a site of a future Jewish state. In our (real) world, that didn't work out particularly well, and the idea was shelved in favor of pursuing a homeland in the "holy land", resulting in modern-day Israel. In the world in which we begin Unholy Land, the Africa expedition was a success, resulting in the birth of Palestina, a Jewish homeland located between Uganda and Kenya. Certain of our realities exist in this world as well -- native populations displaced by the creation of the state, resulting in ongoing border crises and refugee camps, a border wall, debate over the Right of Return, and never-ending peace negotiations.
But wait! There's more. Certain people are able to travel between alternate realities, including one like our own, one in which the entire Middle East is at peace and unified after the horror of a limited nuclear event which destroyed Jerusalem, and other, more exotic and frightening worlds. There are Kabbalistic elements involved which mingle with discussion of quantum physics, and it's all packaged up inside a very noir-feeling detective/spy plot.
I was fascinated by the descriptions of life in Palestina -- the language, the culture, the food, the geography. The author does an incredibly inventive and persuasive job of making it seem like a real and viable country, while also demonstrating that in this world or any other, certain problems and challenges and misfortunes seep through no matter what.
The entire plot is somewhat mind-boggling, and I think I'll need to let this one percolate for a bit and then return and read it all over again. It's a quick read, but with plenty to think about. Highly recommended.